loyejoy



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet I.

H. H. LOVEJOY.

POTATO BIGGER.

No. 331,724. Patented Dec. 1, 1885.

WITNESSES: EWENTOR: jg 351/! Q J BY fimnm N. PETERS. Fhuwuam n mr. wzwnghn. B1;

(N0 Modei.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. H. LOVEJOY.

POTATO BIGGER. No. 331,724. Patented Dec. 1, 1885.

WITNESSES v INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERs. PhMo-Liflmgnpher, Washington D. C.

3 SheetsSheet 3.

(No Model.) H. H. LOVEJOY.

POTATO BIGGER. No. 331,724. Patented Dec. 1, 1885.

WITNESSES: m n i B 1%, INVENTOR: BY M W ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS. Pnulo-Uthognpher. Wlshmghzn 11c.

UTSMTEE HENRY H. LOVEJOY, OF CAMBRIDGE, IlElV YORK.

PGTATO-DEGGER.

EPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 331,72 dated December 1,

Application fil4(l October S, 1894. Serial No. 1412996. (Xe model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. LovnJoY, of Cambridge, in the county of W'ashington and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPotato-Diggers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a plan View of one of ken away. Fig. 2-, Sheet 2, is a sectional side elevation of the sametaken through the broken line :0 00 x a; at, Fig. 1.

and the catchbar being shown in section, and part being broken away. Fig. 4, Sheet 3, is a plan view of the three-armed vibrating lever. Fig. 5, Sheet 3, is aside elevation of the same.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the digging of potatoes, and promote convenience in controlling and operating potatodiggcrs.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as herein after fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

A are the wheels of the machine, the journals B of which are formed upon or attached to the ends of the U shaped bar 0. To the inner sides of the drivcwheels A are attached, or upon them are formed,internally or externally toothed gear-wheels D, into the teeth of which mesh the teeth of the small geanwhcels E, attached to the ends of the shalt The shaft F revolves in bearings attached to the rear corners of the frame G. Upon the bearings for the shaft 13 are formed projections, upon which are pivoted the arms of the U-shaped bar 0.

H is a bar attached at its upper end to the bar C, at a little distance from one arm, and having a hearing at its lower end to receive and ride upon the shaft F. To the bar H is rigidly attached a lever, I, which is provided with a spring lever-pawl, J, to engage with the recessed catch-bar K, attached to the frame G, so that the said frame can be adj ustcd into and held in any desired position. To the center of the forward end of the frame G is at I Fig. 3, Sheet 3, is a rear elevation of the same, the lower pivot bracket tached the rear end ofthe tongue L, by means of which the machine is guided and controlled. To the forward parts of the side bars of the frame G are bolted or otherwise secured the upper ends of standards M, to the lower ends of which are attached right and left plows N, to remove the grass, weeds, and soil at the sides of the row.

0 is the digging'hoe, which is inclined or curved, and is arranged with its concaved side forward. The digginghoeOcan bemade in one I l my improved potato-diggers, part being bropiece, or in two pieces, as shown in Fig. 3, and in dottcdlines in Fig.1. The latter construction is preferred,as it allows grass and weeds not out by the said hoe to escape between the adjacent rear ends of the parts of the said hoe, and thus prevents the machine from becoming clogged. To the rear edge of the hoe O are attached, or upon it are formed, fingers P, which are made with an upward offset, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, so as to raise the rear parts of the said fingers P so much above the ground that the soil in which the potatoes are embedded can fall through the spaces bet-ween the said fingers, while the potatoes will pass back along the said fingers and drop from their rear ends upon the surface of the soil. The forward or outer ends of the hoe O are bolted to lugs formed upon the lower ends of the standards Q, or can be formed in one piece with the said standards. The upper ends of the standards Q are bolted to lugs formed upon the ends of the forward arms of the three-armed lever B. The threcarmed lever B is pivoted at its middle part to and between brackets S T, attached to the upper and lower sides of the rear crossbar of the frame G. The lower bracket, T, is made with a downward oiiset, as shown in Fig. 2, to provide space for the rear arm of the three-armed lever .1. To the end of the rear arm of the three-armed lever B is pivoted the end of a pitman, U, the other end of which is pivoted to a pin, V, attached to the wheel W. The wheel W is made heavy to adapt it to serve as a fly-wheel, to give steadiness of motion to the digging-hoe, and the said wheel is attached to the upper end of a short vertical shaft, X, which revolves in a bearing in the rear end of the arm Y, attached at its forward end to the rear end of a side bar of the frame G. To the lower end of the short vertical shaft X is attached a small beveled gear-wheel,

Z, the teeth of which mesh into the teeth of a larger beveled gcaravhcel, (I, attached to the shaft F, so that the digging-hoe O and its fingers P will receive a lateral vibration from the advance of the machine.

Vith this construction, as the machine is drawn forward, the plows N will throw the grass, weeds, and soil at the sides of a row of hills into the furrows between the rows, the digging-hoe 0 will pass beneath the potatoes and the soil in which they are embedded, and the fingers I? will separate the potatoes from the soil and deposit the potatoes upon the top of the soil ready to be gathered.

To the forward cross-bars of the frame G is attached the lower end of a rearwardly-inclined standard, I), to the upper end of which is at tached the drivers seat 0, the said inclined standard being made of such a length that the weight of the driver will assist in balancing the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a potato-digger, the combination, with the wheels A, the frame G, and the digginghoe 0, provided with fingers I, of the threearmed lever It, pivoted to the said frame, and having its forward arms connected to the digging-hoe by standards Q, and its rear arm to a crank-shaft operated by the drive-wheels, substantially as herein shown and described.

8. In a potato-digger, the combination, with 40' the drive-wheels A, the shaft F, and the frame G, of the U-shaped bar 0, the bar H, having its upper end attached to the bar 0, and its lower end provided with a bearing for the shaft F, and the lever I, attached to the bar H, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. In a potato-digger. the wheels A, the frame G, the three-armed lever B, the standards Q on two of the arms of the said lever, the digging-hoe O, secured to the lower end of -30 the said standards, and intermediate mechanism for vibrating the said lever by the forward movement of the machine, in combination with standards M, secured to the frame in front of the standards Q, and the plows N, secured to 55 the lower ends of the standards M, substantially as herein shown and described.

HENRY H. LOVEJOY.

\Vitnesses:

EDWARD L. LovEJoY, XV. P. ROBERTSON. 

